NU boosts Aviva profits by 12% – papers 2nd March

A record year for insurer Norwich Union has helped parent company Aviva report a 12% rise in profits for 2006, says the Daily Telegraph .

Changes to the UK pensions market in April and increased savings activity also helped boost sales last year.

Aviva said operating profits on a European Embedded Value (EEV) basis rose 12% to £3.25bn last year, but analysts had been expecting profits of around £3.3bn and the shares fell 5% as a result.

The company said it had seen continued profitable growth in long-term savings products, with sales up 21% to £30.7bn, while life and pension sales increased 17% to £25.9bn last year.

2006 was a record year for Norwich Union, which grew sales by 31% to £13.6bn with a 26% rise in profits to £744m, says the paper.

RIGHTMOVE TODAY unveiled doubled full year profits a year after floating on the stock market, reports the Guardian.

The group said underlying pretax profits surged from £8.8m to £17.7m and revenues were 85% higher at £33.6m, as website usage rose more than 80%.

Rightmove is 21.5% owned by Countrywide, Britain's biggest estate agency, which faces a £1bn takeover bid from the American equity firm Apollo.

Ed Williams, Rightmove's managing director, said the firm would welcome a deal because Countrywide's share holding in Rightmove would pass back to the company.

If the deal doesn't go ahead, Rightmove will seek to persuade its main shareholders to sell down their stakes

A 25% LEAP in its full-year dividend was announced by Royal Bank of Scotland for the second year running yesterday on the back of a 14% rise in pre-tax profits to £9.2bn, says the Scotsman.

The dividend of 90.6p was via a 66.4p final payment and followed 12 previous years of rises of 15%.

RBS's shares rose 3%, or 60p, to £20.69, valuing the bank at more than £67bn.

Sir Fred Goodwin, chief executive, said shareholders had shown a clear preference for excess revenue to be distributed by a higher dividend, and suggested this level of dividend growth was here to stay.

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